Aonuma tells the UK’s Official Nintendo Magazine that the Zelda team has been trying “something new in terms of the structure” of the next entry in The Legend of Zelda, which Shigeru Miyamoto teased at this year’s E3 in the form of new concept art.

The next Zelda game after The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks appears to be aimed at mixing up the now-familiar 3D formula. Aonuma tells ONM that he agrees with Miyamoto that “if we are following the same structure again and again, we might not be able to give long time Zelda fans a fresh surprise”.

The still unnamed Zelda title will take advantage of the Wii MotionPlus peripheral and more than likely will offer a new role for Link’s trusty Master Sword, as hinted at by the Wii game’s concept art.

Zelda Wii: Expect Surprises At E3 2010 [ONM UK]

First there was Mega Man. Then Duck Tales. Now YouTube singer/songwriter Brentalfloss takes on his biggest challenge yet: The Legend of Zelda. Does he triumph, or will Ganon win the day?

Brentalfloss applies his unique vocal stylings to Link and his original quest to rescue Princess Zelda and save the day, donning an odd beard and taking on the role of that guy in the cave. You know, “It’s a secret to everyone” guy? This time around he’s a bit more over-the-top than usual, but the man is trying to sell an album and a t-shirt, and generally trying to turn these videos into some kind of livable income. A little desperation is understandable in that situation. I prefer his presence in the Duck Tales video to this one, as it was a soaring song, flying high — like a dream.

My personal favourite is still his Final Fantasy Victory music with Lyrics, but I have Final Fantasy tattoos that I can make dance along, so there’s a bit of the novelty factor at work.

Holy Hyrule this thing defies words. Haywan of PaperCraft Museum is responsible for this. Looks like it even has a detachable shield and sword (and scabbard?) – and heck, that makes the plans worth a try by themselves. (It could be the creator photographed himself playing with them before affixing them to the model.)

There are more pics in the gallery, even more at the link. Check them out, they’re chock full of awesome.

Life-Sized Link by Haywan [PaperCraft Museum via GoNintendo]

Sadly, I don’t see any Links that could pass for Daniel Day-Lewis — but there’s one that kind of looks like Jeff Bridges before he went to seed. And there are more than a few portraits that bring new meaning to the term “androgynous.”

But the one that takes the cake, for me anyway, is this one:

What’s your favorite?

30+ Various Styles of The Legend of Zelda Artworks [The Design Inspiration]

My Little Legend of Zelda. These are fan sculptures, and out4bear is currently selling the Gears toys for US$125 a pop.

My Little Pony Custom ART Commission apoxie sculpt ooak [Ebay via Hawty McBloggy]

It’s May of 1987, the year after Nintendo started selling the Nintendo Entertainment System in America. Super Mario Brothers has been a success and the industry, which in 2009, can have more than a million consoles sell in the U.S. in a slow month.

Here’s how things were going in 1987 according to Nintendo’s statement of its financial results for the past year:

Minoru Arakawa, president of Nintendo of America Inc. of Redmond, Wash. ”The industry is healthy; we estimate that 4.5 million home video game units will be sold in the U.S. in 1987, as compared to 1.4 million units in 1986 — a 300 percent increase.”

Part of what was going to boost Nintendo was going to be this new Zelda thing:

”Among the game pak introductions will be ‘The Legend of Zelda,’ a game that we anticipate will be another ‘Super Mario Bros.’ in terms of its popularity. We will be supporting ‘Zelda’ with advertising and promotional spending of $US4 million, and supporting fourth quarter 1987 sales with an advertising and promotional budget of $US20 million. The continued high quality of our product, coupled with our marketing strength, will help maintain our competitive edge as the leader in the new generation video game category,” he continued.

A game as popular as Super Mario Bros.? What could have seemed like PR bluster in the moment pretty much worked out.

And now back to our regular 2009 Kotaku posts… until next week.

[PIC]

The demo lets players walk around a dungeon and attack baddies from The Legend of Zelda all from a first person p.o.v. and in 3D.

FPS Zelda [Phenex via Infendo

Google apparently has an… enthusiastic Legend of Zelda fan on staff, as Google Blogoscoped points out, highlighting eight of who knows how many appearances of the Nintendo trademark in various specialised corporate logos. Commenters on the blog dug up four more. What’s the secret?

They just employ a talented Zelda fan. And when I say “fan,” I mean cosplaying Link-calibre fan. All signs point to Google web illustrator and web designer Susie Sahim, whose many doodles feature a Triforce signature.

While Sahim has been deferring requests for comment to her Google overlords, we’d think her obvious interests are reflected in her work. And that if anyone found this Google-Triforce crossover mysterious, that mystery should be considered solved.

Or is it?!!

(Yes, it really is.)

The Great Google Doodle Triforce Conspiracy [Google Blogoscoped - thanks, Ulysses!]

Levine had just graduated from college and moved to San Francisco. The lady friend was a few years younger than him, and at the end of the summer, she had to go back to university.

“In our last day together in San Fran, I for some reason picked up The Legend of Zelda,” recalls Levine. “As she stood by waiting for some romantic gesture to happen on our last day living together, she was instead treated to watching me obsessively plow through Hyrule for around 15 hours. By the time the cab showed up to take her to the airport, I realised if I had any hope of keeping her as my girlfriend, it was time to shut off the NES.”

Needless to say, Levine adds, the next summer was not spent together. Good thing he had Link to keep him company!

Gaming Made Me: Ken Levine [Rock, Paper, Shotgun] [Pic]